Bizarre seems like the right word to me. It probably won't hurt anything, but certainly won't help anything either.

bkay

If the leaves are browned, dried or dead/dying, there is no botanical reason NOT to remove them! If they are no longer able to photosynthesize, they serve no purpose and leaving them intact could potentially encourage fungal or insect issues.

Hostas are just another plant and do not necessarily have any more quirky horticultural requirements than any other popular perennials. Hosta aficionados can sometimes become somewhat obsessive about their plants and can focus on growing methods that have really no basis in horticultural reality.

I must assume there is still green tissue somewhere on the leaves which will provide energy to the new plant. Even a deer eaten bunch of celery stalks provides energy. Otherwise, they are off their rocker. I would trim away the dead brown or mushy portions at the very least and would have no problem trimming them all off.

You hit the nail on the head @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9). What other plants do we advocate for keeping the dead or weak ON the plant? I have been trying to find the post so I could snap a picture for you all, but I can’t find it even though it was a new. I hate using FB for gardening forums. I wish everyone would come back here, but I digress.

Even if I could find the picture, it would only show that the leaves are actively decaying with zero chance of recovery. I just hate to see some people be so rigid about an idea without any exceptions to the point of being nonsensical. New enthusiasts don’t know the difference and trust what the aficianados say.

"ongoing mantra in that group to never prune a damaged because it will set it back."

That's nonsense!! There is no scientific basis to support that contention.

Hostas get grazed by deer and even cut back by growers who want to dig and divide hostas in midseason and it doesn't set them back a bit!! And those are perfectly healthy leaves, not dead or dying ones!!

Many rose aficionados have a similar attitude and go through all sorts of bizarre machinations they think are necessary to grow the oldest cultivated flowering plant known to man!! It's craziness! All any plant needs is a decently draining, fertile soil, sun and water. Provide that and you can trim or groom them to your heart's content or in many cases, cut them back to the ground, and they will still grow and thrive.

A few years ago a huge hail storm came thru and shredded every hosta in my yard. I figured they were toast for the season. I cut off ALL of the leaves and -- lo and behold -- the plants sprouted new leaves and completely rejevenated themselves almost immediately. In my experience they're bullet-proof.

"I hate using FB for gardening forums."

Every Facebook gardening group I have tried has been an absolute disaster. There are 500 wrong replies for every question and the forces of ignorance and the need to pipe up overwhelm the very few accurate responses- they just get lost. It's beating your head against a brick wall to even try to help someone- for every question asked they'll be convinced to dust with Sevin and sprinkle banana water around to deal with three aphids or using coffee water to change the color of their Annabelles.

And no guidance for questions either- "Hi I have a new house what should I plant?" and 200 answers, none of which ask for zone or location info- it's a joke.

Any moderating or removal of incorrect information is nonexistent.

Even the ID groups are worthless- people are just too concerned with being the smartest and being the first reply than they are answering correctly. And since we now have "infallible" apps to identify plants (yeah, right) even the incorrect answers are becoming more plentiful.

Everyone is babbling and no one is saying anything useful.

Social media at its finest.

@cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky), I was kicked out of a FB gardening group for saying I thought gardenweb was more user-friendly! The FB group is a literal repeat of a forum on gardenweb that contains a bunch of info and FAQs etc. Same person who wrote all the FAQs here started it. I also try to direct people to Name That Plant! for IDs because there are very knowledgeable folks that people can actually learn from. Not to mention way more accurate than an app. accurate than and app. Sometimes I wish people would move over here, but then I wonder… Is that really what I want? Ha!

I've simply decided I am not cut out for Facebook.

brown and crispy is dead.. remove it ...

those with ANY green.. are converting sunlight into energy.. and a positive for the plant .. leave them until they brown ...

july is root growing season.. to grow new roots to store energy for next spring ... there is also a new flush to come... remove older ugly leaves as new leaves are created to replace them ...

but understand.. if you remove too many green leaves.. then you reduce the amount of energy available to store .. ergo.. your plant might not be as large or larger next season ...

i hate FB and have no appreciation of the nitwits that infest said place ... why get you plant info from a social network.. thats like buying quality plant specimens at the hardware store ...and then complaining they are mis labeled ...

ken

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5, couldn’t I cut out one damaged lead in it’s entirety or the dead portion of a leaf, especually if we’re talking about a healthy established hosta? People sure do cut leaves for competitions or garden tour. You have to admit that there is okay pruning and not okay pruning.

cearbhaill, I share many of your views about facebook! When it comes to hosta on facebook, it find it helpful to be familiar with the names of the people who have been involved with hosta for a long time. It's those people's comments I listen to.